‘What is destroying Europe’

The unemployment rate in the Eurozone reached a record 12 per cent of the workforce in February, bringing the number of men and women without jobs in the single currency area to more than 19m. More than 26m are unemployed in the wider EU.
The daily highlights the “wide rift” that has opened up between northern and southern Europe: while Austria (4.8 per cent unemployment), Germany (5.4 per cent) and Luxembourg (5.5 per cent) have very few jobless, Greece and Spain, both at more than 26 per cent, followed by Portugal at 17.5 per cent, are the worst affected. The situation is particularly bleak for young Europeans: more than half of under-25s in Spain and Greece are now jobless.
The figures show that “the survival of the euro is up to the Germans,” remarks TAZ. “But Germany has not assumed its responsibility. Instead of helping the countries of the south, it has forced them into poverty [...] by remaining impassive. Germans are satisfied as long as they themselves avoid the crisis.”